Deadliest Warrior: Season One – DVD Review

The Show:

I don’t think I am alone when I say sometimes in high school history class, I would fantasize about who would win in a Mortal Kombat-type of fight between historical figures. I mean, sure now, I’ve taken a better interest in history, but then? It was boring. If you’re like me, then our daydreams have turned into a really fun show from SpikeTV called Deadliest Warrior. The show is a mix of brilliance; fun-filled, yet informative, and interesting, as each episode focuses on two of history’s mightiest warriors, like samurais, the Spartans, Vikings, ninjas, the Mob, Apache, Roman gladiators, shaolin monks, even the Taliban, and a real history name or two, as in William Wallace.

Who is the deadliest warrior? I don’t know, but my adrenaline is pumping for each of the nine episode’s 45 minutes.

In each episode, they present two warriors who will fight against each other with some facts and history, as historians tell in re-enactments. Then they show us four or so of their weapons of choice – the pros and cons – all told in a variety of ballistic tests using real pigs or gel targets. Long, mid, and short range weapons are tested by the presented culture’s weapon experts. With a fair amount of jawing in between the rival experts, the show really comes alive during these tests. It’s carnage-filled (read as: bloody), as the gel-like mannequins are filled with simulated skin, blood, and organs. When a weapon hits the body, we see the real damage of what these classic  weapons could do to an unprotected human body. It charges us up, as sick, yet as satisfying at it sounds.

Crafty match-ups in episodes  like Apache vs. Gladiator, Viking vs. Samurai, Pirate vs. Knight, I.R.A. vs. Taliban provide for some intriguing must-watches. The mix between history, expert assessments, and the fun what if scenarios, give us plenty to like and plenty of forum chatter. Even these tests will cause some to question the results, but it all goes in the fun factor of the show. Once all of these tests are done, a special game engine developed by Slitherine Strategies, determines the average winner of a thousand simulated battles. The warriors who average more than 50% of the wins, is the winner. The show will have this awesome, clever re-enactment of the two warriors fighting. It’s a pure “man-show”, but it’s instantly watchable, likable, and great. I can’t get enough.

The DVD:

Audio/Video: Paramount releases the complete first season on DVD here, and the video looks decent in its anamorphic presentation. It’s basically a documentary show, like Mythbusters, so don’t expect a visually dazzling quality, but it serves the purpose well. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is adequate.

After each episode, and you can use a “Play All” feature too, has a little 10 minute feature called Aftermath. Here’, a host brings back the show’s computer analysis and one from each warrior camp from the discussed episode to talk about some of the results and controversies. Viewers sent in questions for the experts to answer, as these were featured on SpikeTV’s website. It’s interesting and it help explains a lot more, unresolved by the outcome.

Season One Wrap-Up: The show’s three hosts come back to talk about their favorite moments, fights, results, and some behind-the-scenes info.

Producer’s Roundtable: This has the producers talking about the origins of the show, the choices of the warriors in Season One, the outcomes, and other fun info.

Conclusion: Deadliest Warrior is all sorts of fun. Now we can relive it again on a great DVD release.

The Show: Rating:

The DVD: Rating: